Cops find cocaine packaged for sale

Police found 77 bags of crack cocaine either in the process of being packaged to sell or ready to hit the streets while serving a search warrant at a South Side home Thursday afternoon.

Johnny Dawson, 24, was arraigned in Youngstown Municipal Court on Friday on a charge of trafficking in drugs. He was arrested about 6:40 p.m. by members of the vice squad who were serving a search warrant at 566 Idora Ave.

Judge Robert Milich set his bond at $25,000.

When officers, who were assigned by the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force, entered the home, they found 60 loose piles of crack cocaine that were laid out to be packaged and 17 that already were in bags to be sold, said Lt. Gerald Slattery, head of the vice squad.

Slattery said the total amount of the crack found came to almost a half a gram, and at $20 a pop, its total worth was about $1,500.

He said he has seen other similar operations and that the amount is the average haul for the low-level street dealer.

Read more in Saturday’s Vindicator.

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